After the USA, France was the biggest user of H-34A Choctaw. The AdlA used 215 from 1959 onwards, including 155 manufactured under license by Sud Aviation. SA53 was the first of the Sud-manufactured airframes to be delivered. Call sign is F-ZAGP. [Editor's note: 50 earlier ones were supplied by Sikorsky in parts, and assembled by Sud. These have Sikorsky numbers plus Sud construction numbers SA1-SA50.]

Although painted as N556, this is actually N976. In the spring of 1914, Gustave Delage designed a small (baptized "Bébé" Nieuport because of its size) single-seat biplane to take part in the Gordon-Bennett Cup. From this humble beginning, a combat aircraft emerged in Autumn 1915 with great agility and manoeuvrability, due in large part because the lower wing is slightly smaller than the upper wing. This example is on display in the colours of Commander Charles de Tricornot de Rose, an air combat pioneer who grouped these new fighters into dedicated units, so they could operate together more effectively.

First of 4 built for the French Air Force. First flown 19 April 1967, and withdrawn from use in 1974.

Section de Liaisons et de Vol Sans Visibilité (SLVSV) 4° Escadre de Chasse

C/n later changed to 431. Displayed in French Air Force markings but never operated as such, and later re-registered F-BSNJ. The Guepard (Cheetah) was an all metal version of the Wassmer WA.4/21. A total of 44 were built, 23 of them (as the Cerva CE.43) for the French Air Force.

The Super Sabre D proved very popular with AdlA pilots. The type served with the French from 1958, for low-altitude nuclear response, until finally retired in Djibouti in 1979.

The Nord 1500 Griffon was an experimental ramjet-powered interceptor aircraft. The first plane 1500-01, with only the SNECMA Atar 101F afterburning turbojet, made its first flight in September, 1955 and quickly reached Mach 1.3. This 1500-02, fitted with the definitive turbo-ramjet powerplant, took off for the first time in January, 1957 and in August, 1958 became the first French aircraft to reach Mach 2. Subsequently, the "Griffon II" broke the international speed record over 100 kilometers on a closed circuit with 1,643 km/h and later achieved a speed of 2,330 km/h (Mach 2.19).

The SNCASO Trident was a French mixed-propulsion interceptor built during the 1950s. It was powered by a single SEPR rocket engine, which was augmented by wingtip-mounted turbojet engines. This is the first of two prototype Trident I's built. Three prototypes and six pre-production Trident II were ordered and an fourth incomplete, pre-production Trident III was also produced. Only six of these nine Trident IIs were ultimately completed, of which all three prototypes were damaged or destroyed in accidents before the programme was cancelled in 1958 despite their record-setting performance.